


Harry Potter and the secret admirer

by a_reader_and_writer



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 5+1 Things, Bathing/Washing, Courtship, First Dates, Fluff, Gift Fic, Hogwarts, M/M, Mistletoe Exchange 2020, Necklaces, Presents, Professor Draco Malfoy, Professor Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:01:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28630695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_reader_and_writer/pseuds/a_reader_and_writer
Summary: Harry has been receiving gifts. From who he doesn't know, but Filius has told him that the gifts are a way of courting. He now has five days to figure out who his admirer is and to decide whether he wants to meet them and go on a date.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 21
Kudos: 100
Collections: H/D Mistletoe Exchange 2020





	1. The first gift

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eletriptan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eletriptan/gifts).



> N and M thank you very much for the swift beta! Also N thanks for helping me with figuring out a title for this fic.
> 
> Dear giftee, I hope you will enjoy this fic❤️

_ Beep beep. Beep beep. _

Harry groaned to himself as the alarm he had set woke him up. Blindly he patted around, trying to locate his wand to shut it off. Unfortunately he had no success, and after hearing something fall down with a loud  _ bang, _ he opened his eyes. The object that had fallen down was the book he had been reading before bed. He frowned at this as he turned off the alarm. Now he would have to search for the page again before he could read further. 

Well, no time for it now, as he had a class to teach in less than an hour. Quickly, he got up and ready for his day, before walking down to the Great Hall. Without breakfast he wouldn't be able to survive his 5th year class with the Ravenclaws and Slytherins. Whoever thought Gryffindors and Slytherins made the worse combination had never thought to put those other two together. 

As he sat down at the teachers’ table, already reaching for the tea, he was greeted from his left. 

"Late again, I see." 

"Good morning Draco. I see you’re still trying to be the very first one at breakfast to get your rolls."

At this the blond blushed slightly, before slightly inclining his head. 

"Did you sleep well?" 

Just as Draco was about to answer, the post owls flew in. A barn owl made its way to the teachers’ table, before dropping his package in front of Harry. 

"Another package from an admirer?" Draco asked, smirking. 

"Or my new supply of chocolates for you, since you ate all the last ones last Thursday when you came over to grade essays together." 

"Oh, hush."

Harry softly snickered at this, before turning his attention to the package and opening it. 

"Well, what is it?" Neville asked this time after just sitting down, his hands already covered in dirt. 

"It's a necklace..." At this he trailed off, lifting the necklace with a pendant from its wooden case. The necklace was quite pretty, the front decorated by a silver dragon and the back reflecting a night's sky full of stars. 

"Seems like you’ve got an admirer, mate," Neville said, grinning. 

"At least this one has taste, but maybe check it for curses just to be sure," Draco advised him. 

"Yeah, probably a good idea." Harry quickly waved his wand over the necklace, the results returning nothing, aside from that it had a strong protection spell woven into it. 

"Well, it's safe," he assured both his friends, before fastening the necklace around his neck, the pendant resting where the locket had once burned him. 

"Do you have any idea who it’s from?" Neville asked. 

Harry thought about it for a bit. He didn’t know anyone who had a crush on him or would give him such presents. His first thought had been a girl, but most girls stopped doing such after the Prophet had run a big article about his coming out as gay. 

"Nope no clue. But maybe they send more and we figure it out," he shrugged, "Anyway I have a class now, you coming Draco? You promised to help with the potions needed for this class." 

"Yes sure. Let's go." 

Harry waited as Draco got up, before they walked to his class together. The necklace softly bouncing against his chess with each step he took. As an unnoticeable reassurance that he would be protected. 


	2. The second gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry receives his second gift and tries to figure out who his admirer is.

The next morning was a Thursday and as Harry woke up, he saw a package had been placed on his nightstand. 

Instantly he was awake, curious what it would be this time. The package was wrapped in the same paper, so the gifter should be the same person. Or at least he thought so, he couldn't know for sure. Maybe it was just from the same shop. 

After unwrapping it, he was staring at a bullet journal. Not just any journal though, it was beautifully decorated with snitches and brooms, and ready for use. He skimmed through the journal a bit, when he noticed writing on the second page. 

_ Harry,  _

_ I hope you liked the first present. This next present is a bit more practical. It will help you keep track of everything you need to do. I have taken the liberty of filling this in for the first week. If you have forgotten something the book will glow brightly red. If you still have 1 day to finish like grading essays it will glow blue. I hope you like it and also think of me when using it.  _

_ Sincerely,  _

_ Your gifter _

The message was written with a Quick-Quotes quill so had standardised writing. No use in identifying the gifter. However the message had given away one tip. Whoever his gifter was had to know him well enough to fill in this journal for the first week with all his appointments and deadlines. So that left all the Hogwarts staff, and Snape and Dumbledore's portraits. The former hung in Draco's rooms where Harry spent quite a bit of time, and the latter was in McGonagall's office and just knew all the gossip. 

Time to try and figure it out. After he finished getting dressed and cleaned for the day, he got out some parchment and started to write down all the names that could possibly be his gifter. 

Some Professors like McGonagall or Vector were a bit far fetched as they were much older than him, and the nature of the gifts didn't seem like a parent to a child but more that of an equal, a partner. Still he had to keep all possibilities open. 

He decided he would interview the older ones during his lunch break in the staff room, so he could start crossing out names fast and find the true identity of his gifter. 

It didn't take long at lunch before he figured out that the gifts were of romantic nature. He had set about telling the other professors how he had got such nice gifts the past two mornings, when Filius had congratulated him on his courtship. 

After asking for an explanation he had learned that wizards in the old days, did courtships. They would give their romantic interest five gifts to make their interest clear. The giftee was then expected to send a gift in return with a letter. When all this was finished, and if the gif tee's letter expressed the giftee was interested in a date with the gifter, a time and place would be arranged by the giftee where they would have their first date and see how the relationship would go further. 

Well then, it seemed like he had three more days to figure out the identity of his gifter on his own, to make the official decision before had to either accept or decline. If he didn't say he was interested in a date, then he would never get to know his gifter’s identity. The gifts would stop and all would return to normal. 

So Harry made a decision. It was time to call Hermione and ask for her ideas of who it could be. She could surely figure it out. 


	3. The third gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry calls in some serious help.

"Okay so, let me get this straight," Hermione started, placing a notebook on her lap. 

"You are being courted in the traditional way by someone who knows you well enough to know your schedule. They also have access to your chambers, as the present was delivered here this morning."

"Yes pretty much. And I will get three more gifts before I need to send a gift of my own to them with a letter indicating if I would agree to a date or not." Harry agreed. 

"Have you asked around yet?" 

"Yes I did, and they confessed right away," Harry rolled his eyes, "that's why you're here." 

"No need to be so sarcastic. It is, after all, the easiest solution," Hermione chided him. 

"Also the most embarrassing one," he muttered under his breath. 

"Well, I guess you will just have to stick to trying to figure it out by crossing off names." 

"Yes, but-" 

Just then his door opened, and Draco stepped inside. 

"Afternoon Granger. I didn't know you were coming by or I would have knocked." 

"No worries, Malfoy. I was just done talking to Harry." She stood up, going to the fireplace. Here she addressed Harry, "Do tell me how it ends." And then with a whoosh of green flames, she was gone.

"I hope I didn't chase her away," Draco said as he took the seat Hermione had just vacated. 

"No, you didn't. We truly were just done talking." 

At this Draco gave him a sceptical look, quite understably. Because while Harry had become very good friends with him, Hermione and Ron and generally all Harry's other friends except Neville and Luna were only polite to Draco. And most of it was for Harry's sake, not Draco's. 

"So why did you come by?" Harry asked, to cut through the awkward silence. 

"Well, I have just been asked by McGonagall to chaperone the next Hogsmeade visit. I was hoping you would join me to make it a bit more bearable." 

"Sure, that would be great!" As soon as his words left his mouth, he blushed. Maybe that was a bit too enthusiastic for a chaperoning day. 

"Wonderful. Shall we say, meet at nine by the fountain?" 

"Yup."

"Okay well, that was all. I’ll leave you alone again..." 

"Oh, no need. We can have lunch here, just the two of us."

At this Draco smiled brightly, before willing it away. 

"You sure? I wouldn't want to bother you, and Wednesday's aren’t usually days we meet up." 

"Very sure, or I wouldn't have offered." And there was Draco's smile again, making him smile in return. 

The moment, however, was interrupted by the rumbling of his stomach. 

"Right food. Kreacher," he called, and the elf appeared with a loud crack. 

"Yes, Master Harry?" 

"Could you get both Draco and me some lunch? We would like to eat here." 

"Of course, Master Harry." And with a pop the elf was gone again, and not even a minute later two plates appeared on Harry's table with two glasses of pumpkin juice. 

"Bon appetit," Draco said before digging in. 

Harry only nodded his head in reply, as he already had his mouth full. 

The rest of the noon was spent chatting about the students, the potions explosion that happened in Draco's class this morning, and the newest Nimbus 5000 that had just come out. When it was time for dinner they went to the Great Hall together and talked further, Neville joining in when the conversation changed to their classes. 

All in all, it was a very nice day. 

  
  



	4. The fourth gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry receives gift number 3 and 4.

The next two days the gifts were things that would work well together. The first was a galaxy bath bomb. The note added to it was very short, with one specific instruction. 

_ I know how stressful teaching can be, so I hope this bath bomb will help you relax. Please do not use it until you have received your gift tomorrow.  _

At first he had been confused at the note. After all, why wouldn't he be able to use a bath bomb on its own? Especially as it was of the wizarding variant and would fill the teachers bath completely. However when the other gift arrived, he understood. It was a bottle of elven wine. On the note, the following was written:

_ Dear Harry,  _

_ I hope you didn't use the bath bomb yet. I have arranged for this evening that the teachers’ bath is all yours. No one will interrupt you from seven til midnight. I hope the wine is to your liking and will help you relax further.  _

_ P.S. Your gift tomorrow will arrive once you're done with all your classes, so you can properly enjoy it.  _

_ Your admirer.  _

Harry couldn't help but blush at the postscript - surely his admirer wouldn't send him any sex toys? A pleasant shiver ran through him at the possibilities. Well, he would have to wait and see. 

That evening he went to the teachers’ bathroom. He had once seen Madam Pince naked and he didn't care to repeat the experience, so after first peeking inside, he walked in. The bath was already filled with water and after putting his hand in it for a moment, he knew it was also at the perfect temperature. He undressed quickly, before dropping the bath bomb in. Within a second the whole bath was a sparkly mix of purple and blue, which was only slightly disturbed when he jumped in the water. 

He first swam around a bit, before settling down and opening the wine, pouring it into the glass that was presumably put down by the bath for him. Cautiously he took a first sip, before draining the whole glass in one go. The wine reminded him of the sweetness of butterbeer and he quickly filled the glass again. 

It was only after he sat in the bath for a while, that he started to think. The admirer so far admitted to knowing his schedule, but because of today's and yesterday's gift Harry was almost sure that his admirer was one of the staff. So that would leave Neville, Draco and Rose, the current Astronomy professor. At least, if his admirer was around his age and not older. 

Frowning, he took another sip of his wine. Maybe tomorrow's gift would make it absolutely clear who it was. 


	5. The fifth gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry receives his final gift and figures it out.

The following day, Harry was distracted. He had already got comments from both Neville and Draco about it. Neville asked if he was alright, to which he assured that he was. And Draco asked with a smirk if he had once again forgotten to plan his lessons, to which he replied by giving him the finger. 

Now in class he was teaching his seventh years how to duel, but he was so distracted by the thought of his final gift and what it might be, that he was hit by an expelliarmus. Only the clattering of his wand on the floor pulled him from his thoughts. 

After picking it up, he called all his students to a stop. 

"You're all doing very well with the dueling. But as you’ve probably all noticed I have been a bit distracted, so I want to end this class on time before something else goes wrong and I can't help you guys because I'm elsewhere with my head. So, class dismissed." he clapped his hands together. 

The students luckily didn't complain, probably happy to be free the rest of the day as it was also their final class. Though he swore he could hear some girls whisper, "I would also be distracted if I were being courted."

After cleaning his classroom up and locking it once he left, he hurried to his rooms. And yes, there it was in the middle of his room, today's gift with a card on top of it. He decided to be smart and read the card first, after all he didn't know how distracted he would be by today's gift. 

_ Dear Harry,  _

_ This is it. My final gift to you. I hope you enjoyed all the gifts so far, and will enjoy this one as well. I had a close acquaintance of my family helping me with this gift. So no, I didn't steal it from anywhere in case you wondered.  _

_ I hope you will send a gift in return and agree to a date to meet. If not then I still will have your company and see you daily.  _

_ Yours.  _

Harry quickly put the card away, before pulling the gift to him. It was quite heavy and after unwrapping it, he discovered it was a large wooden chest. Curious, he opened it, and was greeted by the smiling faces of his parents, Sirius, and even an old class picture of his parents together. He swallowed heavily, as he started to look through all the pictures, only to still have the tears escape when he came to the letters and short notes. 

_ My flower Lily,  _

_ Won't you go on a date with me?  _

  
  


_ Arrogant toerag,  _

_ Won't you go kiss the giant squid?  _

  
  


_ Snuffles,  _

_ The map is almost done!  _

_ Moony is doing the final spell work right now.  _

_ Prongs _

He smiled as he read through them all. This is what he had been missing. Everyone told him about what his parents looked like, and what they did during the first war, but no one could tell him about these little parts. These little parts that were so important to him. And so he spent the rest of the afternoon and well into the night rummaging through everything in the chest, getting to know his parents better and better. Word by word, picture by picture.

It wasn't until he stumbled upon a Christmas card of a young Lily and Severus, that the knowledge downed on him. 

His secret admirer was Draco. It was the only possible explanation. He ticked off all the boxes. He knew Harry's schedule, knew how hard it could be to teach, and Severus Snape had always been a close friend to the Malfoys. Hell, Draco even had the potions master's portrait in his office. 

Now, the question was what would he send Draco as a gift? Because he definitely wanted to go on a date with him. 


	6. The sixth gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry gives Draco a gift.

Harry was nervous. It would be another three hours until his date with Draco. Three more hours he would have to pretend that he was actually grading these essays instead of blankly staring at them. 

Breakfast in the Great Hall this morning hadn't helped either; Draco hadn't been there. Something Filius had commented on with a smirk, to the amusement of the other professors. 

It had been just yesterday when Draco had received his gift. It hadn't taken long for Harry to decide on what to give the blond, only a quick conversation with Severus was needed. Harry had gifted Draco the Valentine’s poem he received in his second year - which, apparently hadn't been from Ginny, but from Draco himself. He had added to the poem a box with chocolates in the shape of dragons. The same chocolates they had first shared once they became friends. It had taken him a while longer to decide what to write on the note. Eventually he settled on the following:

_ Dear admirer,  _

_ I think I have a pretty good feeling about who you are. All I can say is that you always have been the smarter one, so it's no surprise that you knew way earlier that we were meant to be together.  _

_ I hope these chocolates can also be the first we share as the start of a new relationship.  _

_ Love,  _

_ Harry  _

When the present had been delivered during dinner at the Great Hall, Draco only had read the note and blushed before excusing himself, and with a quick glance at Harry he had left the Hall. 

Finally his wand started to vibrate, indicating that it was time to get ready or otherwise he would be late to the restaurant. After a quick shower, he dressed in a three piece suit. He knew it was Muggle and probably would stand out at the restaurant, but Hermione had once said he looked very handsome in it, so he could only hope Draco thought the same. 

With one final check in the mirror to see if everything looked right, he apparated away to the restaurant. The mirror’s  _ “Go get him, tiger!” _ ringing in his ears. 

Once he walked inside the restaurant, he saw Draco already sitting at a table, a bouquet of lilies in front of him. Smiling, he walked over. 

"Hey," he greeted Draco. 

"Hello. Please sit down." Draco got up, pulling the opposite chair out, only sitting down again when Harry was seated. 

"So I did get it right after all. I was afraid I might make a total berk of myself with the note." Harry grinned slightly. 

"Yes, you did get it right Harry. I hope you're not disappointed or anything." Draco looked away. 

"Actually, I'm relieved. I know you and so I know we can spend long periods of time together. Our friendship is great, so we will figure out a relationship as well." Harry smiled, intertwining his hand with Draco's on top of the table. 

"I'm glad. Oh, these are for you," Draco blushed, handing him the flowers. 

"They're beautiful. Also I know it's not proper, but can I please kiss you?" Harry shyly asked. 

In answer Draco only got up from his chair, before leaning towards Harry. Getting the hint he also stood up, and leaned towards Draco, their lips meeting above the table in a soft kiss. 

After a few seconds they pulled apart and sat back down. 

"Well, I definitely want to do that again," Harry smiled brightly. 

"Definitely," Draco agreed, "but let's have dinner first." 

And so they spent dinner together, talking about what brought the gifts on and the reactions of the other professors. When it was time for dessert, Draco placed the dragon-shaped chocolates on the table. 

"So Harry, will you be my boyfriend?" he asked while offering a chocolate. 

"I will be your boyfriend Draco." And with a smile, he took the chocolate from Draco and ate it. 

It was the start of a new relationship. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⛄ This work is part of the H/D Mistletoe winter gift exchange. If you enjoyed it, spread the love by leaving the author a kudos and a comment, and consider reblogging the fest tumblr post [here.](https://gwbexchange.tumblr.com/post/640402900644921344/harry-potter-and-the-secret-admirer-author) ❄️


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